Megaman
by OcelotRunner
Summary: In the year 2099, a revolution is formed to bring down a mad King who has enslaved The United States. His reign of terror is challenged when his former friend creates the ultimate being.
1. The Nova Scotia Incident

Chapter 1

**July 7, 2079 Stelburn, Nova Scotia**

Commander Dawkins let out a slow sigh as he watched the seemingly endless units of Canadian Armed Forces come over the hills. The ocean was at their back, but that was of no concern, he had no intentions of retreat. The occupation of Nova Scotia would be the key to turning the tides in a four year war with the "neighbor to the north."

"Captain Rogers. Are the Bio-genetic Engineers ready to launch?" he asked

"They say they still need time to load 'Secondary Protocol' sir."

Enraged, Dawkins stormed into the small mobile command post where the two sat, diligently tapping away at their holoscreens. Curtis Wily and Preston Light, deemed by America as "The World's Smartest Men" were slightly bothered to see Dawkins in such a mood.

"Do you mind telling me just why the hell we sit exposed, in broad daylight, for a "sure fire" plan, when you two weren't even prepared to start up your own inventions the moment we touched down?!"

Preston, slightly rattled, stood to respond to his superior. Though he stood five foot nine, he was stocky for his height. He was a black haired young man with a drinkers 5 o'clock shadow and that shadow was well earned. Not that it mattered, Commander Dawkins was known to shoot men on sight for insubordination, or at least those were the rumors. "Sir, with all do respect, I informed you that secondary protocol needed to be written and uploaded before actual engagement." He scratched his head, nervously "It's just taking a little longer than expected."

Curtis, (the taller, blonde haired, temperamental one of the two) looked up from his holo smirking. "Wily!" Dawkins interrupted, making him jolt. "What, exactly, is Secondary Protocol?"

He cleared his throat, "It's a restraint program, sir."

Dawkins raised an eyebrow, "Then what is Primary Protocol?"

"Adaptive Lethal Engagement, sir"

The Commander's view shifted to Light, "In about ten minutes there will be two thousand of Canada's finest, armed with PL250 assault rifles, making cherry Kool-Aid in the ocean with all of my men's blood! You launch the machines now!"

"Sir, secondary protocol is still uploading!" Preston said

"I don't give two shits about restraint for those men! Launch the fucking machines now!"

"But sir..." Light didn't finish that sentence, it was too late. He looked to his best friend, who had already pressed the "Abort Task" and "Launch" keys. Wiley looked at him and mouthed "Sorry Preston."

The Canadian Forces were closing in on the command center when, from behind the overlook to the west, they heard what could only be described as metal banging and walls falling, followed by silence, then a light whistle.

The Draken was the first to emerge. It flew over the men like a giant, fabled dragon spraying down napalm over the first two waves of troops. The screams of burning agony deafened other soldiers near by, who had charged full speed while the beast circled back around. Those who had escaped the winged beast were about to discover the contents of box number two.

The Leviathan, as subtle as the Draken was brash, hovered into view. Resembling a cliché drawing of a UFO with jagged, metal spikes and thousands of holes lining it. It let loose a barrage of barbed cables, both impeding their advancement and entangling or impaling hundreds of their troops. The smaller holes along the bottom opened and let loose a downpour of cold water onto the battlefield. Confusion was widespread, but only for a couple of seconds before five thousand volts of electricity flowed through the tentacles. Those still on dry land retreated back to the hills, only to be battered and mauled by the winged devil that stalked overhead. Every flat-line scan on the Draken's interface translated to it as "effective procedure," a machine's "job well done."

Dawkins and his platoon looked on in awe. The battle, and possibly the war, had been won in mere minutes, and not a single shot fired from his men. They watched as the Draken scoured the battlefield stomping the still breathing and half burned soldiers who still moaned. Biting in half the ones who still dared to stand up, while the Leviathan hovered in place, as if admiring as well.

Light and Wily, in their small bunker, had a first person view of the carnage on their holo displays. The Leviathan concerned them, it was still in "Target Acquisition Mode" whereas the Draken had settled into "Standby" when it's devastation was complete. Knowing what this could possibly mean, they came running out into the open. It was too late. Barbed cables began slicing through their fellow men before the first warning could be shouted. Wily grabbed his partner from rushing in and pointed to the Draken, who began to raise it's head. "They've gotten all the warning their gonna get from us, we leave now!" He shouted.

Preston was in a state of shock as he was dragged and pulled into the small aquatic transport unit. It blasted into the ocean, leaving Preston with the lasting view of Commander Dawkins pointing his rifle up at the giant, open-winged dragon, before being devoured. He thought of his five year old son and his fantasy holo books of knights and kings.

"This is a prime example of why the A.I. ban should be lifted!" Curtis said, angrily."If machines could think and reason with actual logic, imagine what could be prevented."

"No." Light said, bluntly. "You can't play God like that, it turns humans into monsters. Not to mention self awareness is a dangerous thing on it's own. We stick to creating secondary protocols and allow ourselves more planning time in advance."

Wily, frustrated "That island holds everything we needed. The Fusion Engineering Compound alone could give us unlimited possibilities. The Canadians are so short-sighted, making guns and bombs. It's a fucking waste." And with that, he had already started formulating a plan.


	2. More Human Than the Human

Chapter 2

**August 15, 2099, Megatropolis**

The country was barely alive. In Megatropolis (formerly United States of America) the people only lived to do one thing, serve King Wily. Any who didn't meet quota for their assigned tasks or defied his rule openly were imprisoned or executed. No one was really sure which was worse. The citizens of this Sovereign Nation couldn't really complain though, because it was ultimately their own doing. Voting to overturn the A.I. Ban in 2088 was their ultimate undoing. The prospect was a dream. Machines that could work endlessly to supply the country with infinite amounts of free electricity and water, not to mention security, while also being able to make on the spot decisions on their own without repair, a dream. But the money saved became irrelevant when Wily turned his androids on the people and effectively enslaving the survivors. What they worked for now was the luxury of having electricity, the ration of food and water for their families, and the ability to keep their housing units.

Curtis Wily walks into the Calligraphy Room of the White House, frustrated with his current situation, he shuts off the blaring alarms. He turns to Gutsman, an almost seven foot monster of a being with spiked gray hair and a freshly combed, matching goatee. He looks down at the brutalized pulp of a man in front of him "He got this close?" he asked

"Sir, he has very advanced gear and a lot of intel on our headquarters." Gutsman replied

Wily, holding back his rage, said "You know who sent him, and you know what we have to do now." He pointed to the brown haired mess "Throw this one in the compactor and meet me in my office."

Gutsman grinned at the task that lay ahead of him. He had a special affinity for "that" kind of mission.

**Boston Massachusetts-Light Tower**

Preston, obviously annoyed with something, stormed into his personal laboratory to check on why he still was getting no response to his comms messages. His former best friend had taken over a country and here he couldn't get anyone to respond to his calls. Stress was an understatement, he feared the worst. His headache had only reached a dull roar before the summons buzzer sounded from his door.

"Preston Light?" The out of shape cargo delivery man asked.

"Yes, but supplies go through the Supply Department on the basement level." He replied

"Sir, these are personal delivery items addressed to you directly" He guided in two boxes, a three by three inch box with a "1" on it, and a three foot by six foot box with a "2" on it.

He signed the holopad and opened the first box. It was a data chip, he inserted it into the console and what flickered on was a crude recording of Curtis Wily. "Preston, we had our differences before and you chose the path you were allowed. I've been extremely lenient with you because of our relationship in the past, but in fairness, I _did_ warn you what would happen should you interfere with me." His heart rate immediately went through the roof as the camera panned over to reveal his twenty five year old son strapped to a lethal injection table. Gutsman towered over him with a curved serrated blade and began to cut away his pectoral muscles while he howled in agony. The screams were terrifying. Once all the muscle was removed, his son was breathing shallowly. Gutsman then proceeded to grab his ribcage and split it open, killing Alex Light. The recording flickered off.

Dr. Light couldn't move, paralyzed with horror, he didn't even turn to look at the larger box, he knew what was inside. He locked his door and began to spiral into a sever breakdown. Over the next year and a half Light spent almost all of his time locked in his lab. Other doctors and coworkers were starting to wonder if he had gone insane. He didn't speak to anyone anymore, given they even saw him at all. In his quarters he worked night and day, not like before, this time he was sleep deprived and bordering another breakdown. He spent countless hours on data upload, programming code, and artillery designs. He struggled to keep up.

When all was finished he sat silently in his chair, staring at his creation. A perfect replica of his deceased son. His close cropped, jet black hair was exact. His exoskeleton was comprised of tempered steel and hydraulic pumps to allow fluid motion. Multilayered flex insulation covered in buffered latex was a perfect muscle and skin alternative.

By law, all such materials were laced with millions of microfiber sensation receptors to simulate human pain. Legislature demanded this become mandatory for overturning the A.I. ban, so that androids could not be completely unstoppable. Though it still didn't save their government during the takeover.

Dr. Light didn't have anywhere near the resources that Wily could use at his disposal, so perfecting his life form was a slow process. This actually worked in Light's favor, focusing on all the potential of his software and putting added attention into every small detail personally.

The upload was complete, he turned to the holo keypad and activated the operational status. When he turned around he saw his son sitting at the edge of the table eying the room "I thought this world would be bigger." He stated simply.


	3. A Blue Invitation

Chapter 3

"Alex, is there anything you need to ask? Are you confused at all?" Light asked cautiously.

Alex, knowing everything about the last hundred years from political events, sports, martial arts, all the way to armed forces training across sixty two countries, replied "Other than filling me in on where to begin, I have nothing to ask."

"Alright, let's get you dressed and take a look at your gear." Light said tossing him some loose fitting jeans and a white t-shirt.

"So this Curtis Wily has an unknown amount of drones, robots, and artificial life forms," Alex said, looking around, "so why am I the only one here? Are the other androids already out in position?"

"No." Light said, simply.

"Okay, I know I'm new here and everything, but I'm pretty sure if I go at this alone I will be destroyed, statistically speaking. Unfortunately, my self preservation programming makes me a little concerned about that." Alex added.

Light smiled and patted Alex's shoulder, "Come with me."

The door exiting the lab opened and the shocked faces of about seventy workers were upon them. No one spoke, just stared. The open layout consisted of clunky spider bots, conveyor belts with various weapons parts on them, I.E.D. testing stations, and repair stations. It resembled a dirty factory. Alex wasn't feeling confident at this point. "We, are going to lose, doctor." He stated bluntly.

Light laughed, "My lab is located on the Maintenance level." He walked to the elevator. "We are going to the ninety sixth floor, 'Advanced Technology.'

The Advanced Technology Lab was a James Bond's fan's heaven. It was illuminated like a photo shoot and glass cases holding different gadgets and uniforms were everywhere. Alex stopped at a case with a glowing soccer ball floating inside. "Trust me," a voice said, walking up, "that is absolutely zero use to you."

Brian Jennings was a tall, young, and slightly arrogant man. He put out his hand, "I'm Dr. Jennings, head of Research and Development for A.T., I will be responsible for your weapons and armor on your missions." He shook Light's hand, "Dr. it's good to see you back up here, in person. I've gathered everything you requested in your messages and brought them to 'Viewing Room Seven', if you care to join me."

Jennings was the only person to have continued contact with Dr. Light since his seclusion. He was the only person that he felt comfortable enough handing his "special" assignments over to. Especially since the sudden departure of his former Head Developer. She was always short tempered, but smarter than most people gave her credit for. Shortly after Light's absence, she just up and left without so much as a "Go to Hell."

Jennings motioned to the two, "Now, if you take notice to this arm contraption here, it may look like a Roman torture device, but it is literally your best friend out there, on the field." The device was menacing indeed, a five inch, metallic wrist band with hundreds of tiny needles on the inside.

"The BioSynergetic Transformation Rifle." Jennings said, picking up the device. "the needles implant themselves throughout all the fibers and metal in your hand and forearm, making it possible to transform it into any shape or size to accompany any projectile weapon."

Alex put his arm in the device, it locked on like a mutant leech. The pain inhibitors activated in full force, making him scream in excruciation. The tendrils dug themselves into every fiber in his arm as he dropped to his knees.

"Well if you're done being dramatic, I can continue." Jennings said as Alex picked himself up off the floor. "By default, the only practical weapon you can shoot is focused fusion bolts. Their effective enough to debilitate any machine, some with more persistence than others, of course. But in order to gain access to any thing else, you will have to retrieve core chips from Wily's android officers. He restricted any kind of fusion transmutation that could be useful.

Alex pointed his left arm at the practice dummy and willed a cannon to form. Nothing happened, the BSTR bracelet unhooked and fell to the floor, now without needles. "What the hell?" He asked.

"You don't need the arm band itself anymore, the tendrils are already settled in. And you need the neural translator to communicate with the device." Jennings said

Alex stared at him, blankly.

"I think now is a good time to show us the suit, Brian." Light interrupted.

Approaching the case, one word came to mind, _blue._ A sky blue nanofiber exosuit, with dark blue boots and gloves. He could slightly make out the octagonal, grid pattern stitching, possibly a shock dampener. It was amazing.

"The EXO250 is our standard-grade battle attire." Jennings began. "I made yours shock and weather resistant in addition to its basic armor, being an android you can support the extra weight." He pointed to a small case next to the suit and smiled, "This is what makes you dangerous." A small, form-fitting, dark blue helmet with a pointed brow and sharp jaw lines stared menacingly back at him. "The sensor node at the base of the helmet is what links to your neural core when worn. It is what allow you to use the BSTR. But, as I mentioned before, Wily has a heavy encryption on transmuting fusion."

Dr. Light spoke up, "Alex, we have spent a lot of time and resources making costly mistakes because we saw this as an extreme set back. We've tried stealth tactics to try and capture Wily quietly, our operations have failed and the repercussions were harsh." He stopped and took a deep breath. "He has access to all the country's technology and holds it for himself. So much so that even his scattered lieutenants and majors only have limited access for transmuting. So I've designed an adaptive uploading program in your neural core. With this strategy, you eliminate one of his officers, remove the core chip from his head, and we can upload its access keys, slowly making you the ultimate soldier."

Jennings cut in, "I've also programmed the suit and helmet to shift color schemes when you change between functions."

Alex confused, "What purpose does that serve?"

"None. I just thought it was cool and it only took seven seconds to install." Jennings replied.

Alex smiled slowly and asked the two men. "Who's first?"


	4. Identify Yourself

Chapter 4

**January 5, 2101-Chicago, Illinois**

Prairie Avenue was especially dark after sundown. The perfect cover for preparing an assault. Light's scouts had reported that the former six block condominium landmark had been gutted by the enemy and housed hundreds of civilian captives on the second floor. The ground floor was used to work the humans in shifts, mass producing repair bots, security bots, and making alterations to current hardware.

Outside, the patrol drones circled the perimeter in the dark. Shaped like silver basketballs with a single photo receptor and a small, hyper-focused, repeating fusion rifle attached to the bottom, they scan for stray humans and trespassers. Since Wily and Light had altered fusion energy on a molecular level in 2086, making it self-recharging, it was now standard issue for all basic weaponry.

A single drone, approaching the front entrance, detected a hooded figure approaching the main doors. Upon drawing closer it scanned the figure to determine it's threat level. _Human male. Six foot. Hooded rain slicker. Appears Unarmed. _The drone automated forcefully, "_Identify yourself."_

The figure turned around to face it, pulled back his hood, and stated "I am the new sentinel of this Megatropolis..."

The drone, quickly assessing that the figure was, in fact, not human, went into attack mode. It spun and ejected three more rifles from it's other sides. But before it had time to react, the figure raised the hollow end of his left arm and said simply "...I am Megaman." Transmission ceased.

Megaman looked on as the yellow embers, that used to be a patrol drone, spread away like a group of fireflies. Removing the large slicker, he activated his communications bud in his helmet, "You think anyone got that?"

"We'll find out soon enough. Loved the intensity though, it should ruffle some feathers inside." Light responded.

"I just hope it transmitted in time, it would be awkward to have to do it again." Megaman said.

Sitting in the old managerial office, was one of Wily's first lieutenants. They called him Cutman, for his ability to transmute sharp metallic objects at great speeds. It was said that in the hostile takeover of 2088, that you could always tell where he was stationed, due to the body parts with clean, surgical cuts separating them.

Donning his dark gray nanosuit, with orange steel boots coming to his knees, matching the pencil-thin body trim lines and orange gauntlets, with rectangular ports for projectile weaponry. His face was always covered by his tightly melded, black helmet that consisted of two razor sharp blades that met between his eyebrows and curved in a "V" shape over the top of his head, like a deadly mohawk. All you could see are his cold, dead, brown eyes, with the handle of his twenty eight inch katana just over his shoulder.

Looking on at the dozens of holo displays in his dark room, he brought up and expanded the one that caught his attention. Drone 247B's heads up display had a human figure on it, it wasn't often he saw that anymore. "I am the new sentinel of this Megatropolis, I am Megaman." then the display screen went black. His deep, electronic voice spoke to an empty room "The nerve of some beings." And with a few quick taps on his keypad, the order was issued "All forces to the Main Entrance. Lethal force."

An alarm sounded throughout the compound and small units of "gearbots" mobilized from several directions. Despite their tank-like tracks, they were very versatile in movement. The terrified humans took cover as they sped past violently, their heads resembled skulls and they had automatic rifles where a human's arms would be.

Outside, Megaman turned and began to walk away with the door to his back. "Looks like he wasn't sleeping on the job after all, Doctor." He got six paces back and turned towards the double doors smirking.

The doors slid back and Megaman dropped to one knee. In the split second it took for the bots to lower their weapons upon him, their ranks began to get shredded into pieces with automatic rounds, compliments of the revolutionary commandos camped out behind the fence line, just beyond the perimeter. Megaman, looking up, knew he had a small window of time to get through the door. Leaping up through the cloudy haze of yellow embers, he dove past a duo of gearbots, putting a bolt through each one's skull and landing directly in front of another. Using his momentum, he pushed off his front foot and drove a shoulder into it's chest. The impact caused them both to tumble and slide across the floor into the main lobby area. The doors slammed shut as Megaman stood up, putting a bolt through the machine's face.

The main lobby resembled that of a hotel, under renovation. Serious, dirty, destructive renovation. He could hear that the blaster fire outside was starting to slow down, so he needed to get moving before "Phase Two." Taking a left, running as fast as he could, he made a dash for "Product Assembly West" where he could begin to hear the peoples' screams down the corridor.

Product Assembly West was a large open warehouse where hundreds of conveyor belts shuffled along gearbot body parts for the humans to weld, repair, and assemble from the scrap metals provided. But since the assault had began, production had stopped due to terrified people fleeing and hiding from patrol drones, that had now been authorized to use lethal measures against them.

Dozens of bodies lay, riddled with scorched holes, across the floor. Megaman, like a rabid beast, grabs the first drone he sees, and pulls in half from each side. He grabs another out of the air and crushes it in his palms. Three terrified girls, dressed in rags, look on in awe as he methodically disintegrates four approaching drones with single shots. His charged fusion was consistent to drop low-grade bots in this manner, but the amount of drones pouring in, attacking civilians, meant he would have to settle for less charge and a higher rate of fire. Jumping onto a conveyor, that circled the back wall of the assembly area, he unloaded a barrage of bolts that sent the attackers spinning into a frenzy. The frantic patrols bouncing off each other, took themselves down from either friendly fire, or the impact.

"Megaman," Jennings said over the comms, "Resource and Rescue reports 'Phase Two' in thirty seconds."

"Understood." He responded, still mowing down the ranks, he yelled to the captives "Everyone hiding along the west wall need to get to me now!"

A group of humans made a charge across the room, from behind shelving units and various machinery. He covered their advance, dropping stray pests that thought the people easy prey. Counting in his head, he yelled "Everybody down, now!" He hit the concrete himself, as a thirty foot section of the wall glowed, then erupted in a shower of debris and scraps of steel. Large freighter boxes were dropped at the opening, their doors shifting open. The people made a break for the civilian transport boxes while crews of technicians spilled in and started breaking down equipment like a group of termites.

Lana Miller, the Captain of Light's revolutionary forces, came walking, calmly, across the chaotic warehouse. Her long brown hair pulled up just over the purple bandana wrapped around her forehead. Her green eyes shone with pure intensity, and she wore a black Kevlar vest over her standard issue exosuit. The vest contained eight, clip-pointed hunting knives; four lining each side, along her ribs, and her twin .45 blaster pistols at the small of her back. "Machine," she addressed him "we have this area clear, for now. Make sure to open access for the rest of the prisoners on the second floor before calling for pick-up. My men will cover any reinforcements from the east hall while you complete 'Phase 3.'"

Walking back down the west corridor, toward the main lobby, Megaman stopped and turned to face her. "Captain, with all due respect, I think you should order your men back."

She cocked an eyebrow, "With all do respect, _Machine,_ my men are plenty capable of defending a corridor."

Her condescending tone, paired with the way she spit out the word "machine" like it was vomit, angered him immensely. "In the case that I fail, _Captain,_ your men will be slaughtered by, a far less tolerant, _machine._"

In the blink of an eye, the squad behind her drew arms, as did she as she dryly said "That seems to be irrelevant, now." They opened fire, and Megaman, by reaction, would've blown Miller's brains, skull, and pretty little face all over her men if it hadn't been for the sudden pains shooting through his back. He dropped to one knee to see the unit falling back. While some are sliced to ribbons, others lay out bleeding uncontrollably.

He sensed that the lieutenant was walking up on him, grabbing his fallen comrade's rifle he swings it around like sledgehammer. In one swift motion, Cutman unsheathed his blade, sliced the rifle in two, and set into his stance. Megaman wasted no time to throw a standing side kick to the midsection of his foe, who quickly side-stepped the blow and delivered a kick of his own to the back of his support leg, sending him almost into a backflip and landing directly on his head. It took a moment to shake the static, when Cutman pulled him to his feet and sent him sliding down the east hall corridor. The bladed stars in his back broke off or came loose in the tumble. Grabbing one, before hitting the wall, he hurled it as hard as he could, landing it directly in the abdomen of the pursuing android. Cutman, still walking toward him, not phased, said "Did you really think that I would let you just walk in here and stop all of this?" He came closer, "That you would just kill me?"

Megaman realized that his nemesis was right. He really did think those things, he was overconfident. It was time to stop being flashy and focus on what needed to be done. As Cutman drew back his katana for the killing blow, Megaman planted his palms on the floor brought his legs swinging around in a wide sweep. The android jumped the maneuver easily, only to be caught mid-air by a fierce shoulder block to his sternum. The momentum sent both through the air, onto the floor. They each quickly rolled to their feet, firing projectiles across to each other. Cutman, deflecting bolts with his sword, rounded the corner, making his way to the equipment sector in the east block. Megaman, in pursuit, came to the doors and began to understand why he was led here.

The room was large and filled with heavy machinery and maintenance catwalks high above. Scanning the room for his adversary, he took two razor-sharp discs to the chest, followed by Cutman dropping down in front of him, slashing in lightning fast "X" patterns that almost left him in blue slices. He dodged backward and fired off a hail of bolts before the android ascended back into the darkness.

Megaman pulled the discs from his chest, silently thanking Jennings for the durability of his suit. He began to anticipate his stalker, avoiding high speed skewers and charging fusion bolts at their origin. He wasn't directly aiming for Cutman, but rather the support cables holding up his high ground. Cutman, feeling the grating beneath his feet start to give way, dove like a cat onto the nearest heating unit. The gathered steam around the machinery made it impossible to to see, with both normal and thermal vision. Frustrated, he began to feel like he was led to this very spot on purpose. He turned to jump to the adjacent unit when he was met mid-air by the blue android, wielding a steel pipe drawn back. Before he could react, it was across his face and the room was spinning over on itself.

The twenty foot fall was short after slapping into the side of a seventeen ton heating unit. Katana in hand, he slowly stood, his right eye socket busted and spilling out brownish-red fluids. Androids bleed. Just as humans had veins and arteries, they had tubing throughout their bodies, carrying coolant, lubricants, and hydraulic grease. And this little blue clad, piece of shit had made him spill it. He was livid, but still had one good eye, and was out of the steam pockets.

A volley of bolts rained down on him, he deflected most when their sender came into view from the steam cloud. He raised his left arm to meet him with some discs of his own, when his arm suddenly kicked back, almost breaking. For that mishap, he was rewarded with two boots in his chest, knocking him to the floor. He looked over at his gauntlet to see the problem, the launcher port had been crushed closed in the fall, and was now jammed with his bladed projectiles. He let out a sigh. _This is bad _he thought and muttered, "Very well." Pushing off his hands, he flipped himself to his feet just in time to defend against Megaman's attacks, parrying high blows from the pipe, he severed it in two. But that didn't stop the advance. Megaman caught the severed piece in his other hand and continued the assault dual-wielding. Cutman, dodging endlessly, brought up a front kick causing his foe to drop the pipes and stagger back. He went on the offense, driving Megaman back with a flurry of swipes that rarely met their mark. His rage began to show in his fighting and Megaman could tell. His sword was sharp enough to pierce any material, knowing this, he backed himself to the steel wall and desperately avoided the wild swings while charging his cannon as much as possible.

When the lunge came, he felt the blade shove through his pectoral muscle, pinning him to the wall. Cutman had fell for it, bringing up his BSTR, he pressed it to his ribcage. There was a split second of shock in Cutman's eye before he was blasted sideways across the room, breaking his sword in two.

Megaman, sliding off the blade, picked up the handle with an eight inch piece of jagged metal that used to be a beautiful katana, and walked over to the severely bleeding android. The absence of the crimson fluids, that now lay across the floor, made it difficult for Cutman to move. His helmet broken completely off on one side, he watched his foe walk up on him and put his foot on his chest. He struggled to fend him off, but Megaman simply put more weight on him and kneeled down, grabbing his white hair.

"No..." He started to object, panicking as the jagged blade came across his neck. But Megaman ignored him and, without expression, sawed at his neck until his struggling existence blinked out, and his head severed.

Clutching Cutman's head, arms drenched in red fluids, he stood up, "Come in, Captain Miller."

"Miller here, whats the situation?"

"Lieutenant is neutralized. Heading to the main office now." He replied.

"Copy that, let me know when they are all out and I'll call in the birds." She said.

He walked into the stale office, glowing with the light of countless holo screens. He unlocks and opens all of the second floor detention rooms. Fifteen seconds pass and not a single person even so much as peeked out. "It is safe to come out." He said over the intercom. Nothing.

As soon as the lift reached the second floor and the doors opened, he knew what happened. His atmospheric scanners were going wild with lethal gas readings. He walked in the first doorway and saw an eight year old boy, with foam coming from all orifices, laying on the floor.

"Miller," he said quietly, "call the birds."

"Machine, what's goi..."

He removed his helmet and sat down against the wall. He looked at Cutman's decapitated head and said, "I guess you got the last laugh after all, you sick fuck."


	5. Of Ships and Dragons

Chapter 5

**October 24, 2085-Stelburn, Nova Scotia**

Just off the coast, deep under the Atlantic Ocean, was a two-man freight submarine. It was specially designed to be almost invisible to radar as it scouted the shore patiently.

"Are you sure this will work?" Preston Light asked from the scanning display.

"If I wasn't, we would still be on the ocean floor, in the compound working on our gear." Responded Curtis Wily, "I've waited six years for this. It _needs _to work."

"Where are you picking up the Leviathan?" Asked Preston, changing the subject.

"It's reading that it's still close to the shore line, I'm not picking up the Draken at all though." Curtis said, curiously.

"That concerns me, Curtis. What if it went further inland, killing more people?"

"Those people are the enemy, and it probably picked up a scout crew, chased them inland, killed them, and went back into 'standby'."

Light hung his head, "If you had only given me seventy more seconds, we could have shut them down with the push of a button." He wearily looked at his read-outs, "Now Commander Dawkins and all of his men are dead."

Wily raised an eyebrow, "Six years of this shit, Preston. Dawkins was an asshole, and you may not think so, but if one of his men so much as got grazed by an enemy bolt while the protocol was uploading, he would've blown your fucking brains all over the wall, on the grounds of 'treason'. I wasn't gonna let that happen."

Light nodded, "You're right. I'm sorry that I've put this on you all these years, but part of me can't help but wonder what would've happened."

Wily put his hand on Light's shoulder to reassure him, "Let it go, brother, it's not you're fault. And I didn't save you so that you could go through life beating us up over it."

Light felt better knowing that his friend would always be there to pull him back up. Curtis slapped him on the back, "Now, let's gear up and go get our fucking lab!"

The two emerged, climbing over the western cliffs that Dawkins had made his final stand on. They wore heavily armored, full-body, iron-clad exosuits that were specially designed by them to insulate from electricity and heat. The installed jet boosters gave them the ability to jump extreme heights, glide, and maneuver in mid-air.

Looking like two hulking metal body-builders, Wily turned his slotted visor to Light, "I'm still not picking up the Draken."

"I can handle the Leviathan on my own and meet up with you further inland, if you want to try and locate it." Light suggested.

"Okay, just try and keep from getting impaled, the suit can handle the rest." Wily said.

The two split up, Preston, walking over the hundreds of decayed body parts, shuddered and remembered to stay focused on the task at hand. The Leviathan was still in defensive location, same as it was six years ago. It lit up and raised into the air as soon as he had it in view. He burst his suit into a full-speed sprint up the coast. The machine wasted no time firing the deadly tentacles. Even with the suit's enhancements, avoiding them proved a challenge. Preston nearing closer between the cables, saw the water begin to come down. Even though he knew the capabilities of his armor, this still made him nervous. He jumped fifteen feet easily and grabbed onto one of the jagged cables. The climb wasn't difficult, despite the screeching of barbs on his gauntlets, but when the jolt of electricity hit, time seemed to stand still. He could hear the buzzing and his suit trembling, but it worked, he was safe...for a second.

The endless rain of razor-sharp needles came down like God smiting him, personally. Still clutching with one hand, he raised his other gloved arm and deployed a spreading shield from its forearm. The needles banged and broke upon the shield, but some still ate away at his armor in spots. His heads-up display detected a cable coming from his left to swat him, he dove from his line and grabbed on, taking several spikes to his suit in the process. As more tentacles joined the assault, he began a deadly game of "vine-swing" around the floating sentry.

In the remains of what once was a forest, Wily began to come across a trail of rotting, mutilated corpses. He was getting close. "Preston, come in." He commed.

An out-of-breath Light responded, "What you got, Curtis?"

"I found the Draken, I'm just outside of his sensor range, as long as my cloaking unit keeps steady."

"Alright, do not engage! I'll be there, shortly." Light advised.

"Are you kidding? I was planning on taking down this steel dragon myself." Wily replied, sarcastically. "And why are you still messing with the Leviathan, do you need help, Preston?" He taunted.

"Just don't die, and wait for me, _please."_

_ "_Fine." Wily chuckled, "And be careful, buddy."

Looking up he saw the glowing, red eyes upon him. He activated his comms and said quietly, "Preston, I think I may have a pr..." Just then, the tail of the beast slapped him aside, against a nearby tree. In a flash it was on him, snapping it's jaws as he wiggled free from underneath it. It turned and swatted at him, like an insect, but only took down burnt tree husks. Wily, knowing it was pointless to run from it, jumped head first onto it's arm. The Draken let loose a steady stream of flames directly upon him, his suit could endure this, but not for too long. He pulled out a chargeable pulse hand cannon, and unloaded everything into the fire's source. The flames ceased as molten liquid spewed from the Draken's mouth, and as an added bonus, he had ruptured it's jaw hydraulics, effectively muzzling the monster. As he climbed on the back of it's neck, the Draken took to the skies for the next method of termination on it's programming list, plummeting.

Preston pulled himself atop the Leviathan, looking at the glass dome that covered the CPU core. He made a fast break for it, dodging the slapping cables against the surface. Ripping the glass back, he pulled the notepad sized box from the pack on his chest, containing the "secondary protocol" shutdown virus, and inserted it into the main port. The flailing cables fell, lifeless as the Leviathan went dark and dropped to the shore.

After Wily's cut off transmission, Preston wasted no time gliding down from the sentry and pushing on full speed through the forest.

The ground grew small as the dragon carried Wily further up, but he wasn't concerned, his boosters would handle slowing any drop, he just didn't like the idea of the fall. Shaking that thought, he climbed on to the top of the Draken's head and pulled back the skull plate with his his vice function on his gloves, and inserted the virus box. _Here we go, _he thought. The monster fell away from him as he went into a two-mile free fall. He activated his boosters..."_Boost Port Error 9743. Repair Required" _came up on his HUD as he picked up speed. The tail slap must have punctured the fueling unit. He panicked severely, "Preston, come in. I'm falling! Oh my God, I'm gonna die! Preston! Come in! Please!" The ground came into view, "Oh shit, look, I'm sorry for everything, please..." The ground came up to welcome him, when from his right, an iron guardian came leaping from atop a tree, wrapping him mere feet from the ground. They rolled violently across the ground until they met a concrete wall belonging to the fifty story Canadian Advanced Technology Research Center.

They slowly dragged themselves up, "I thought I specifically told you not to die." Light joked.

Wily, catching his breath "I told you I had an affinity for dragon slaying."

They removed their helmets and headed for the entrance. "Hey, man," Wily grabbed Preston's shoulder, "You saved my life, I owe everything to you."

Light, feeling a little awkward, replied "Hey, no sweat, brother. You would have done the same for me." He slapped Curtis' shoulder, "Now, let's go get our fucking lab, right?"

Wily hearing his own profanity come from Preston, laughed "Yeah, let's go."

The lab on the fortieth floor was amazing. Light went into the room on the far right of the massive open area to find a server room with hundreds of ports, on various-sized modules.

Wily, walking the main area's consoles, in the center of the room, saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. He pulled up his sidearm and, calmly, said "Stand up, now." A skinny, bald scientist stood up slowly from behind the desk. His hands in the air, he held a pistol up, surrendering.

"Please, don't shoot. I've been living here for years and haven't seen anyone since June. That's when everyone was sent out to fight some mechanical beast that was killing scouts." The man said.

Wily, still holding steady on him, said "Who else is here, in the building?"

"It's just me." He said "I refused to leave after people stopped coming back by the hundreds. Whatever is out there, did something to whatever was left of us, after the battle with the Americans, six years ago." He trembled. "I'm not a soldier or a fighter, I know that. Everyone called me a coward, but look at them. Where did they end up? I'm the one who survived." He said proudly "By the way, how did you get passed th..."

He was cut short, due to Wily blowing his brains onto his console. Preston ran out of the server room "What the Hell just happened?!"

"A survivor, he pulled a gun on me, I had no choice!" Wily said, pretending to be shaken.

Light drew his pistol, "He may not be alone, we should sweep the lab."

Wily nodded, "You're right, I'll check the back rooms." After confirming what the doctor said, he met Light back at the main desk. "They've been using fusion energy to transmute, materials like we thought."

Light responded "We could do so much with this lab if transmutation wouldn't cause us to run out of fusion in six months. It's to rare to just deplete like that."

"Imagine if we found a way to alter it, make it rechargeable." Wily said

"That's ingenious! I need a drink, we can start first thing in the morning with molecular testing!" Preston said.

Wily knew it was ingenious, he smiled, because he had already started on it years ago, it was all part of his plan.


	6. Everyone has a Plan

Chapter 6

**January 5, 2101-Boston, Massachusetts**

Megaman walked into Dr. Jennings' lab and tossed Cutman's head on the table, with a _thud_. "Can we cut this thing open so I can get the chip, please." He said, dryly.

Jennings, usually sarcastic and upbeat, said seriously, "It's not your fault, you know." He began to saw at the skull, "No one could have gotten close enough to know he had a kill-switch."

Megaman sat, as Jennings handed him the core chip. "Thanks, Brian." He said. "The families of the hundreds of rotting bodies, that used to be children, mothers, and fathers, will feel better knowing that."

"Megam..." Jennings started.

"We finished?" He interrupted.

"Yeah. That's it." Jennings said, quietly.

Back in his quarters, Megaman sat in his black shorts and white t-shirt. The buzzer rang. "What?" He replied.

"It's Miller." She said over the intercom. He pressed the unlock key on his holo, and she walked in. Her civilian clothes made her look a little less dangerous, she wore a black tank top and olive colored cargo pants, with the purple bandana in the belt loop. She started plainly, "Sit down, Machine."

Her tone only seemed half-threatening, so he obliged, sitting on the edge of his bed. It was mainly for looks, considering he didn't sleep.

"The dork told me that you were feeling bad about the outcome of our mission." She said.

"We got hundreds of people killed." He replied

"Cutman killed those people. Wily killed those people, okay? This is the world we live in, Machine, people die, people suffer by the thousands. We save who we can and move forward. People _will _be lost, including some of us. You need to learn that."

He nodded, "I didn't realize it was _this _bad. How do you keep from breaking down?"

Gripping her bandana, by habit, she said "I have my reasons to move forward." She paused for a moment and jumped up hastily, "You get the idea. Man up, Machine. Don't let this discourage you." She walked out, leaving him sitting on the bed, confused by what that was all about. He shrugged and began to thumb through the files for his next assignment.

In the Briefing Room, Dr. Light went over the details of the upcoming assault on Hoover Dam. "...now, the scouts have reported that there are no civilians on sight, so we have to go in hard and eliminate the resistance with extreme prejudice." He held up a small, dual-plugged fusion vial. "When the main threat is eliminated, Alex, you will need to install this in the Main Port of the Central Hub to ensure that the city doesn't black out."

Zipping up the neck of his blue nanosuit, Megaman gave a "thumbs up" and leaned against the back wall. He was ready to strike a crippling blow to Wily and his army. The impatience was eating at him. These feelings were new to him, but he processed them easily. One officer at a time, he would bring Wily to his knees.

Dr. Light met him in the hallway, after the briefing. "Alex, I know this mission is mainly for techs, but I'm going to send Captain Miller in to assist you."

He was taken back, "This was supposed to be a solo mission, there's no reason to put her in harm's way! I'm plenty capable of handling this myself."

"I understand that, son. That's not the issue, I want the two of you to become more well-organized together, for future missions. You need to be able to function as a well-oiled machine out there." Light replied.

"Funny you should put it that way, she seems to be disgusted by anything non-human. How do I know she won't destroy me, first chance she gets?" Megaman said.

"She has her demons, but this will do the both of you some good. And I wouldn't worry about her being in harm's way," He added, "she's the best soldier I have and is too stubborn to get killed." He smiled, "Now go wake her up, the two of you have a flight to catch."

The Transport Flight Drone hovered near the top of the dam, as Megaman and Miller hooked on their zip-line gear. The cable shot into the block wall and they rode it to the maintenance catwalk, without saying a word to each other.

Miller, with her akimbo fusion pistols, approached the hatch door and posted up to the right of it. Megaman, (suit shifting to _gray and orange_), transmuted a five-inch dagger from his left glove, stabbing the latch of the lock and shoving the blade downward. Pulling the door open, Miller ducked and spun into the opening, dropping the turret sentries on the other side, without raising a single "alert." The two silently walked the corridor, when five patrol drones emerged from the side hallways. A shot from each of Miller's pistols turned two of them into sparkling confetti, while Megaman hurled his dagger into a third and tagging the remaining two with bladed stars from his wrist.

They continued their silent walk toward the end of the hall, where a sign read " Security Access/ Power Grid " Approaching the sign, Miller spoke bluntly, "Keep your shit together, Machine. I'm not in the mood to put you down if you go off the deep end."

"And here, I thought we were bonding." He replied, matching her tone.

"There's nothing to bond with. You're a computer chip encased in metal and wires. You're no different than what we hunt, no matter how much you've been programmed to '_think_' you are." She said, harshly.

"What about last night, what was that?"

"It's in everyone's best interest to keep you stable. I volunteered. You can easily become like Wily's machines if you aren't ready for this life. Don't think, for a second, that I actually give two shits about your little 'feelings'." She responded.

"Good talk." He said, taking a right, as she took a left at the junction.

The narrow hallways made picking off the patrol drones almost too easy. Miller knew that what lie ahead, in the Security Command Center, would be the real challenge. All she needed to do was take down the firewalls in the system to trigger an alarm, luring all the little troublemaker robots into her ambush, while her "partner" dealt with their leader, without distractions.

Peaking around the corner, where the entrance lay, she noted two, Alpha Class, armored turrets, mounted to the ceiling, on either side of the doors. One shot wouldn't be enough to stop these, she would have to get creative. Holstering her pistols, she drew two of her knives from her vest. She closed her eyes and counted down from five, at "one", she rounded the corner and the automatic fire was upon her instantly. Shifting low and changing course, sporadically, threw the guns off, slightly. Running forward, she hurled one knife into to wall, just under the right-hand turret. She was grazed by several bolts, but made it to the handle of the blade, using it as a foot-hold and jumping up. She buried the other blade, firmly into the "movement control" pump of the sentry. Now that it couldn't resist her, she quickly pulled her legs up, swinging it directly at the left turret, blowing it to scrap metal. Outliving it's current usefulness, she pulled her sidearm and planted it into the machine's computer core, pulling the trigger and dropping to the floor.

Back on solid ground, she sheathed her knives and wiped away some of the blackish-green pump fluid that drenched her. She composed herself and pressed the door's keypad, putting in her false bypass code, courtesy of Brian Jennings. The doors slid open, she pulled up both pistols, in a wide-eyed panic.

The Power Grid was colossal. Megaman slowly stalked the perimeter of the room. His target was known to not be a fighter, but more of a highly resourceful, production android. Not to mention that his A.I. had slipped somewhat to the psychotic side.

He was skeptical on how empty the room was. All the power at his fingertips, unguarded, was too good to be true. At that moment, the ventilation ducts swung open, from all sides of the ceiling, pouring in small, metal balls all over the floor around him. His first thought was "_bombs", _but that wouldn't be his luck, right now. Still rolling they began popping out their eight, skinny legs, and sharp pincers. Electricity surged throughout their bodies as they began to swarm him from all sides.

Spraying fusion bolts, wildly, they began latching onto his body. He could feel them clawing and poking him through his suit, their electric shocks weren't severe, just annoying as hell. (_Gray and orange)_ He produced a katana, similar to the one his previous adversary had used, and began weaving lightning-fast arc patterns, making shavings out of hundreds of "spiderbots". They kept pouring in through the vents, his swordplay and razor discs kept them slightly at bay, as he made his way to the Power Grid entry. With his back to the doors, he kept from getting surrounded. He commed Miller, "Miller, we have to fall back! They know we are here!" Nothing. "Miller, come in, copy!" Still, nothing. _Shit, this is bad. _He thought. And just as that thought entered his mind, he felt tiny legs on the back of his neck, digging in as three more went up under his helmet. As they began to electrocute him, they ripped his helmet off, flinging it into a sea of metallic arachnids. His suit flashed back to blue, his left hand was now, just that, a hand. With only his sword left, he begrudgingly, retreated. He was powerless now, Miller had gone dark, he had no choice but to get out alive. The doors slammed shut and he punched the security lock code. With his suit compromised and ripped, bleeding from multiple lacerations, and completely disarmed, he had to seek out one of the emergency escape tunnels to keep from encountering more resistance.

Sparkman was Megaman's target for this mission. So the surprise was genuine when Miller opened the doors to the Security Center, to see his smiling, metal-toothed face on the other side. He knew they were coming for him, and decided to fuck their plan, royally. Despite his wiry frame, he didn't wear much armor. He wore no shirt and aside from his black nanopants and knee high, plated, yellow boots, he wore matching yellow, steel gloves that went to his biceps. They had a plethora of different sized openings on them, that made Miller uneasy. Underneath his ragged, chest-length, dirty blonde hair, she could see his yellow, metal headband, with extending jaw guards that resembled steel sideburns.

She stood no chance, but that didn't stop her from lashing out, hatefully. She pulled up both pistols, in a wide-eyed panic and fired two shots. He took one directly to the right shoulder, and dodged the other with ease, before grabbing both guns and making her body seize up. He flung her through the plate glass surrounding the security console. She stood up, angrily, pulling two of her knives and spitting out a mouthful of blood.

He actually smiled bigger as he strut towards her. "Oooh, now _this_ I can play with." He ejected two tuning fork-like objects from his wrists, into his hands and tapped them together, making sparks fly.

She charged him, delivering a kick directly for his face that only grazed, but she followed it with a left knife gouge aimed for his throat, he caught it with his forks and twisted them, snatching the blade from her hand. She came with a right overhand stab, while pulling another knife from her vest with her left. He sidestepped, but the blade found it's mark into his shoulder. He barked with pain, then headbutt her square in the nose. She fell to the floor, bleeding uncontrollably, and blindly flung her remaining blade, which by luck, made it's way under his ribs. He screamed loud this time. "You little bitch!" As he reached down for her, she drew two more knives, but never got to use them. The forks touched her temples and plunged her world into darkness.

The storeroom smelled of burnt plastic, that was the first thing she noticed when she came to. She was stripped down to nothing except her underwear, strapped to a vertical table by her wrists and ankles. Sparkman turned around from his workbench, grinning disturbingly. "Welcome back."

She angrily pulled at her restraints. "Oh, those." He said, walking toward her, "Sorry, but you were a little more spirited than I took you for." He rubbed at the patch on his side, "Hence me, prematurely, ending our little _game _earlier." He slowly slid a thin, sharp sliver of aluminum up under her ribcage, as she screamed in pain. "Fucking hurts, right?!" He said angrily as he plunged a jagged piece of metal into the top of her shoulder. The vocal response seemed to please him, greatly, as he smiled wide.

She eyed the door, praying her partner was still following his primary objective. As if reading her mind, Sparkman retorted to the look, "Oh wait, you're waiting for your blue buddy to come bashing in, saving the day, aren't you?" He laughed maniacally and held up a mobile holo projector, scrolling through it, he clicked on a prerecorded feed. She watched as the holo showed her "partner", beaten and without his helmet, prying open the emergency escape panel and ducking into it. She deflated at the realization that she was alone here. It was up to her to get out of this mess.

Sparkman giggled at her misery, "Big bad lost his helmet and couldn't continue. Self-preservation is a twisted bitch, even for us, _machines." _He began pushing wires under her skin, above her breasts. She shrieked as if it would dampen the agony. He attached disc shaped nodes to the other ends and dropped them to the floor. The cries continued, as he did the same with her thighs and forearms. The feeling was unbearable, but she hung on to consciousness, she had to find a way to get loose. She decided to dislocate her thumb, it would hurt like hell, but that was nothing compared to her current situation.

"Now that you're all dressed for the ball," He said looking at her wired-up body, "let's dance." Coin shaped discs began to dispense from the tops of his gloves, charging with electricity before rolling down to his fingers. He flicked his wrists, throwing them like skipping-stones at the nodes, from across the room. Each one that hit sent a jolt through her body, making the attached area spasm. He rarely missed. This _"_dance of pain_" _continued for, what seemed like, years. She swore to herself that when she got free he would die...slowly. She yanked the side of her hand against the restraint, dislocating her thumb. She screamed out so loud that she almost ruptured a vein in her neck. He didn't seem to notice, it blended in with the rest of her suffering.

Growing bored, he walked over to her. This was her chance, she waited for him to get close enough before making her move. He closed in, and in the blink of an eye, impaled her hand with a steel spike. As she wailed, she remembered what she had told the android, the night before, '_People will be lost, sometimes it's us.'_

"Do you think I'm an idiot?!" He spit out, violently. "How about we just skip the foreplay, princess?" He ejected a seven inch metal rod, with a balled tip from his wrist. Crackling with electricity, he pressed it to her inner thigh making her spasm more. He laughed in a disturbing tone, "Don't take this next thing personal. I haven't captured me a woman in _years_." He dispensed a three inch hook blade and slide the tip up to her underwear on the side.

She began to sob, "Someone will come for you, you prick." She said. "And when they do, I'll be looking up from Hell to watch you writhe." She spit blood in his face and clenched her eyes closed.

He giggled' "Cute last words."

The blade came up...but never cut the fabric. It dropped to the floor as he was violently shoulder tackled, crashing over his work table, spilling its contents. Her vision was blurred from the electro-shocks, but there was no mistaking the ripped, blue nanofabric and jet-black hair. She cried from relief.

Megaman backed away as Sparkman flail wildly with various tools, in a blind rage. He then charged with his forks, screaming. Sidestepping quickly, Megaman grabbed him by his golden locks, using his own momentum, to fling him against a nearby pillar. He stood, solemnly for a moment, still gripping the maniac's headgear, they were both powerless now, but the difference was that Megaman wasn't severely injured. He walked back to Miller and yanked the spike from her hand and undid her restraints. She reluctantly pulled the wires from her skin, grunting. Megaman, looking away, tapped her arm and handed her her shirt and pants. After getting dressed, she turned to him, "What about him?" Pointing to Sparkman. He said nothing as he handed her the three inch hook blade.

"You need the chip from his head, right?" She asked.

"Yeah." He responded, quietly.

"I'll get it for you." She eyed the fallen android, "Last."

He turned to her now, "I still have to install the fusion core, down the hall." She looked him in the face as he said, "Should take...ninety minutes?"

"Ninety minutes sounds about right." She said looking away.

After hooking up the core and retrieving his helmet from the disabled arachnid nest, he returned and spent the remaining eighty-five minutes in the hallway. The horrid sounds coming from the room didn't bother him much. She needed this, it was the least he could do for not finding her sooner.

She finally emerged, putting on her trademark purple bandana. She was covered, scalp to soles, in the androids blood. "Thank God for 'Objective Programming', right?" She said.

Slightly hurt by this, he stood up. "I could have retreated and returned for 'Objective', I stayed to find you. I read the things in his dossier, same as you, he was a monster." He replied.

She turned, looking up the hallway as they heard their ride approaching, "Good work today, Megaman." He said, restraining a small smile.


	7. Early Christmas Gift

Chapter 7

**December 22, 2087-Stelburn, Nova Scotia**

A drunken Preston Light walked down the hallway of W.L. Industries, in his black suit and tie. He made his way to the one place he knew he would find his partner, being anti-social; The South Mechanic's Bay. In his usual spot, Wily was up on top of the disabled Leviathan, making alterations. Preston sighed, "Hey!" No response. "Curtis!"

Wily stood up in his tank top and work pants, pulling his goggles up over his long blonde hair. "I didn't know we had a date tonight!" He shouted, jesting at Light's attire.

"Did you forget about the Christmas party, for our employees, hundreds of guests, hosted by both _W _and _L?"_

_ "_Honestly, Preston, this is your fault. If you hadn't been a savage with _Levi, _here, the hardware would be much easier to adapt." Wily replied.

Light cocked his head, "I seem to remember you dropping my dragon like twenty miles from the sky, after breaking everything on it."

"Okay, _A:_ It was not that high, and _B_: I'm a total badass. You should have known what I'm capable of." Wily said, laughing. He slid down the ladder, "In all seriousness, give me thirty, I'll change and be right up. Preston bowed, sarcastically and exited the bay. When he left, Wily unlocked his private workspace in the back corner. An exact replica of himself lay on the table, motionless. He marveled at it's human-like form and face, even down to the shoulder-length, blonde hair, the same as his own. His youthful image would live on forever through this being. It would be his protector, his protege, it would usher in the future with him. All he had to do was put the final touches on overturning the A.I. ban and he could begin programming.

Upstairs, the Convention Hall was packed. Even though all the employees and their families lived in the compound, they rarely all got together at once. Light was talking to his son, Alex, when he was approached by a tall, stocky older man. He recognized him immediately, Secretary of State, Robert Maglia. He was slightly stunned, "Mr. Maglia, it's an honor to see you here, sir." He said, shaking his hand.

"Thank you Dr. Light." He responded, when Preston nudged his thirteen year old son, who fiddled with his holopad. Alex reached out his hand, nonchalantly, and greeted him with "Hey." Maglia laughed, "Quite the speaker you have here, doctor."

Light awkwardly asked "Not that I mind but, what brings you here, tonight?"

"I was invited by Dr. Wily to go over a few details for his campaign." He replied.

Light was confused and speechless. He started to form a question when Alex exclaimed "Uncle Curt!"

Wily walked up, sharp as a knife, with his hair pulled back behind his ears, in his nine thousand dollar suit. "Alex!" He said, slapping hands with the boy, "How's school, you haven't graduated early yet?" He asked.

"Nah, I'm signing up for Junior Varsity Baseball next year, when I start high school." He said, proudly.

"Alex wants to play for the Sox when he gets older." Light added.

Wily raised an eyebrow, "Good, the Light gene pool needs a little variety in it. Leave the egghead stuff to your dad, here." He looked to Maglia, "Robert, my office is two floors up, should we go over some details there?"

Preston, offended, cut in, "Well, don't let us hold you. Alex and I need to go entertain some guests, so..."

"Preston, this won't be long. Why don't you join us?" Wily interrupted.

Maglia, awkwardly, chimed in "Yeah. That would be great, I mean, you _do_ come up in most of the bullet points we discuss."

"I've been planning to ask you, it's just bad timing and all." Wily stated. "I wanted you to hear it from me, but..."

"No worries." Light said. "I'm not the political type, you know that." He smiled and shook their hands, "You gentlemen go handle your business, and Curtis, we can catch up after the party."

As the night drew on, Preston started to feel slighted and a little guilty at the same time. Though he and Wily had turned the lab into a full-fledged company, they rarely saw each other. Only when passing through the Ocean floor compound, between Boston and Nova Scotia, sometimes. He needed to be by his friend's side for this. Becoming Vice President was a big deal, especially since it was made an elected position a decade ago. Curtis could use his help. He called his son over, "Alex, have Rich take you home. You can have some friends over after you check on your mother, if you can behave yourselves."

Sighing with relief, the boy put his ear buds in and headed for the Departure Bay. "See you when you get home, Dad."

"Alright, I love you." He said, as his son just shook his head and threw up a hand.

Approaching Wily's office, he caught a glimpse of the holo display in the security booth, it looked as if the two men were arguing intently. He walked over and raised the volume just enough to hear them.

Maglia waved his hands, "What the hell were you thinking, inviting Light up here? What would we have done then?"

Wily gestured for him to calm down, "Robert, I've known the man my whole life. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't already know he would decline. And you're the one who told him about the campaign, anyway."

"I thought he knew! And I also thought he knew that he wasn't involved!"

"Look, it doesn't even matter, even if Preston agreed to come up, we just omit some facts and move on like planned." Wily sat down. "Speaking of which, did your guy get his money?"

Maglia was calmer now, "He did, but even when the Vice President dies under _accidental circumstances_, they still investigate, intently. So we are gonna have to lay low for a while after this."

"Robert, relax. Think of this; When I get in and overturn the A.I. ban, you will be signed on to get twenty percent of the profits."

Sitting down, Maglia spoke quietly' "So this 'Atlas' thing that you and Light made, are you sure it will handle things if they go wrong?"

"The Atlas Card, literally, controls and harnesses all of the fusion energy that W.L. Industries uses. I can upgrade it to include any android I create. To adjust, alter, or even remove their power source. Everything will be fine."

In complete shock of what he just witnessed, Preston, still a little drunk, fumbled for his mobile communicator when the two emerged looking through the glass at him. Wily walked quickly to the door before Light could engage the lock. He snatched his device and smashed it. Preston threw a right hook that Wily dodged, twisting his arm high behind his back and locking in a choke-hold. Curtis then pulled a pistol from the security desk and put it to Lights' temple.

"Kill him!" Maglia shouted.

"Shut the fuck up, old man!" He said turning Preston loose, holding the gun on him. "This man saved my life and deserves better than to be put down like some animal!" He calmed himself. "Preston, you know I don't want to do this, especially before Christmas. I'm going to give you two options, okay. Option One: You leave here, go home to your sick wife and be with her in her final days, you raise your son to play for the Boston Red Sox and get to be at all his games. You have grand kids. You keep your Operations Center on the coast and never return here or speak of this. I will buy out your half of the company, for a generous price. I will leave you be for the rest of your life." He breathed deep, "But if you ever interfere with me in any way, I will murder Alex and send you his fucking corpse. Option Two: I blow your brains onto the Secretary of State."

Light stared him down and said quietly, "Fine, I'll go. Just leave me and my family be."

Wily pulled out his comms unit, "Yes, security? Could you see that Dr. Light gets to the Departure Bay, safely? He's had a little too much to drink. Thank you." He looked back at the steaming Preston Light, "Hand over your access cards, Preston."

He obliged. His friend was too far gone, all he could do was go home, and live with "Option One".


	8. The Quick and the Dead

Chapter 8

**January 21, 2101-Light Tower**

Megaman sat patiently outside of the infirmary, awaiting an update on Miller's condition. His suit was also in need of doctors, but he didn't want to leave until he knew that she was okay. Dr. Light approached him, as he sat looking at the floor. "Alex," he said, "I just spoke to the specialist, he said that Lana is gonna be fine. None of her wounds will disable her in any way, but he does want her to get some rest while her hand heals."

"When will she be awake?" He asked.

"Probably tomorrow, you should really get that gear looked at, son." Light responded.

As if being summoned, Dr. Jennings came rounding the corner quickly. "Dr. Light, we have a problem!" He glanced at Megaman, "Good God, man, do you even try to use caution?" He turned back to Light, "Anyway, I need you to come with me immediately."

"What is it? I was about to go ready the information for the next target." He replied.

"It concerns Tracy's old office and lab."

Light turned to Megaman, "Go to Jennings' lab for repair, we can meet up later."

In the elevator, Jennings filled him in. "When Tracy left, I took over as Head and we just started using my lab as Primary Development, since we had the same equipment anyway. Well, a few months ago we went to her floor to grab some extra supplies, but everything on the floor kept registering as _Restricted Access_. We've been trying to hack our way in ever since." The elevator stopped at the ninety-ninth floor and opened. As they approached the doors, he continued, "Well, we finally cracked security, and got in, today." He opened the doors. "And we found this."

The lab, the lockers, the boxes, and even the office were all stripped bare. Jennings held up a shoebox-sized frequency transmitter. "And this, she used it to encrypt the doors, have the cameras read a false image, and who-knows-what-else."

Light was shocked, "Why would she do this, Brian?"

"Sir, with all do respect, I believe if you think back to _everything_ that happened when Alex was killed, it will be obvious."

Dr. Light felt so stupid, "God, you're right." He looked down. "I was so obsessed with my situation and I never even spoke to her. She must have thought I didn't care." He looked up, "We will find her and resolve all of this, she hasn't come to us with any hostility, so it may not be what it seems. For now we stay the course, and have a small unit look for her."

Megaman sat alone in the Briefing Room looking over a three-dimensional holo of his next mark. Like the name suggested, Quickman had the form and body type of an Olympic track runner. He wore his black nanopants, with his trusty, ten inch, bladed boomerangs holstered to each leg. His boots were blood red and curved in from the sides, forming something like a shark fin going up the shins. His gloves matched with red scythes on the sides, coming to a point by his elbows. His red helmet form-fitted the top of his head, with curving blades reaching down the side of his face, hooking by his chin. It bore a wide-angled, yellow "V" on the forehead. His black nanosuit had the same octagonal pattern, trimmed, faintly, with red.

"He should pose little threat to you." Light said from behind him. "His fusion energy only transmutes into high-octane firing fuel, making him move extremely fast. With your abilities, it should be a simple in and out. No resistance, no civilians, just him and some Beta-class security."

"An assassination." Megaman said, bluntly.

"A strategic removal." Light corrected. "He runs the network between Wily's officers." He pointed to the holo, "He is the reason the Sparkman Strike went to Hell."

"We take him out and Wily can just communicate with his officers himself." Megaman added.

"Still a win. Wily is human, he gets tired, he has a lot to multitask already. If he has to play 'switchboard operator' for everyone, he will begin to falter in other tasks."

"Is my gear ready?" He asked.

"You leave in ten." Light replied.

**Willis Tower-Chicago, IL**

In the cover of darkness, Megaman was silently dropped off on the roof of the massive structure. Avoiding the patrolling "eyes in the sky", he made his way to the access door.(_Grey and Orange)_ He deployed a small blade and sliced through the locking bolts. Opening the door, cautiously, (_Black and Yellow_) he formed a node on his left palm. He grabbed the metal door frame and charged it, several cloaked cameras and turrets popped sparks throughout the stairwell.

He came to a maintenance ladder, leading to the Central IDF Room, he would find his target there. He began to descend when the building shook violently with a deafening explosion. He was thrown from the ladder and down the eight story hatch. Hitting the floor, he felt his knee joint dislocate before his shoulder crumpled behind it. Pain shot up his left side as he went to stand. (_Grey and Orange_) He produced a large claymore sword with a wide handle. He used it as a crutch as he made his way through the building.

He followed the flow of the smoke, which seemed to lead to his original destination. All the defenses were going haywire, he limped across the foyer to where Quickman would be stationed. When he opened the door, the wind pressure almost knocked him off his feet. The entire wall had been blown away, and upon further investigation, he found Quickman's body...and only his body. It lay amongst battle scorched walls and destroyed machinery, his head removed. Whoever did this was well-prepared and fast-acting.

"Come in, Dr. Light." He commed

"What's the situation, Megaman?" He replied.

"Someone got to the mark before me, they took his head." Megaman informed him.

"Obviously this wasn't us, did you get a look at them?"

"No, they blew the entire wall out and were gone in ten minutes, at most." He responded.

A moment went by, "We are sending pick-up, salvage what you can." Light said, confused.

"Copy."

Laying on Light's table in a grey tank top and black shorts, Megaman looked at the ceiling as Light repaired his leg. After a long silence, he finally asked "You know something about this, don't you?"

"There are only two people, in this world, with the ability to make a being that could pull that off. One is me, and it killed an officer of the other." Light responded.

"Could it have anything to do with Tracy?" Megaman asked. "You seemed pretty concerned when Jennings brought her up yesterday, who is she?"

Light sighed, "She was our head 'Weapons and Technology' engineer. Her brother was killed during the takeover and she turned to us to help stop Wily. She abruptly left, a little over a year ago and robbed us blind."

"Could she have done this?" He asked.

Light chuckled at the thought. "No. That would be like asking if Jennings did this. Whatever did this, it wasn't human. A human couldn't stand up to an officer, let alone kill it in ten minutes." He snapped Megaman's leg back in place. "Besides, she couldn't have known that Quickman was our nex..." He trailed off in realization and commed Jennings immediately.

"Yes, Dr. Light?" Jennings asked, disturbed.

"Brian, the frequency box you found in Tracy's lab, destroy it, now!"

Jennings logged off instantly. He turned to Megaman, who said "So maybe she is involved, after all."

"She may have been hacking us, but she would still need a highly trained, well-funded militia to pull off a coup like this. And if she had that, I would know." He stated.

Megaman hopped off the table, "Whatever the case, we should still stay the current route. Whoever it was seems to be doing us a favor, whether they realize it or not." He pointed to the console "And if it was her, shes in the dark now. I'll keep an eye out."

"Alright," Light said, "first thing tomorrow I'll call a briefing." As Megaman turned to leave, he added, "And Alex, you should go see Lana, she's awake. She asked for you directly." He grinned as he turned around.


	9. Response

Chapter 9

The White House was once a thriving tourist attraction, with so much history inside. It now sat, heavily guarded, as the Headquarters and home to King Curtis Wily. He sat alone in The Oval Office, his long, grey and white hair hung down in his face, over his tired, cold eyes. He angrily read over the holo reports, and watched the security feeds of the raids on his two fallen Lieutenants. Almost if to personally haunt him, Preston had his new henchman bear the face of the person who he once called "nephew", the very person that he had tortured and brutally murdered. He regretted that, but had to keep reminding himself that it wasn't his fault, Preston had forced his hand. He pressed the comms switch, "Guts, can I see you in my office?"

Gutsman entered a few moments later, in his button-down, white shirt and black slacks. "Yes, sir?" He said, in his deep, subtle voice.

"These recent attacks," he started, squeezing the bridge of his nose, "what direct effect have they had on your end of things?"

"Well, honestly sir, I've been having issues with our officers communicating with one another and sharing intel since yesterday, so Light must have gotten to Quickman. I've checked the footage from Willis Tower, and it all went corrupt at twenty-three hundred hours. I suspect the worst, sir." He said.

Wily let out a sigh, "And the others that we know about?"

"Nothing too serious there. Our main manufacturing plant was lost, but we still outnumber the rebels astronomically, so that is just a minor setback." He adjusted his cufflinks and continued, "Our main problem is the Power Grid, for now. Word is slowly spreading that we don't have control over the people's electricity anymore, and productivity is starting to slow."

Wily, now fuming, said "Hold a few public executions, we haven't done that in a while. I'll make a nation-wide address, as well. If Preston wants to cause trouble, we can let everyone see the fruit of his labors." He thought for a second, as Guts turned to leave, "And Guts."

"Sir?"

"Make it as painful as possible, but no miners, I still use the resources they find." He instructed.

"I know just who to call, sir." Guts said, with a grin.

**Light Tower Infirmary**

Miller's room in the Infirmary was almost equal to that of a luxury suite. When Megaman entered, the holovision was turned up to almost deafening levels.

Miller, noticing him, fumbled for the controls and quickly muted it. "Oh hey, didn't expect you to actually show up."

He cocked his head, "Why wouldn't I?" He asked.

She shrugged and motioned for him to have a seat on the bed. "I wanted to apologize. I treated you like less than nothing, and when I jeopardized our mission, you came back for me."

He cut in, "Capt..."

"Just listen." She interrupted. "It's not easy being human. We are already at a huge disadvantage to the machines, so trusting them can be difficult enough." She put her hands in her lap, nervously, and closed her eyes. "When the takeover happened, I was twenty four. I was on leave with my husband and four year-old son. The machines started off killing high-ranking officials and I was called into '_Emergency Duty_'. My family was escorted to the '_Ranking Officers Family Protection Base_' that was set aside for events like that." She gripped her bandana and composed herself. "When I got there, everyone was gone and the place was wrecked. All I found of my son's belongings was this bandana he used to play 'robbers' with." She wiped her eyes, "I later found out that the compound was betrayed by the Government Issued security robots that were stationed to protect them, and then taken to a Work Camp, in Dallas. When we raided the camp last year, we found it abandoned and the prisoners left to starve to death."

Megaman put his hand on her shoulder, when the holovision suddenly changed, mid-program, to the circled "W" symbol. He grabbed the controls and turned it up.

Wily sat at his desk, with his hair pulled back. "Citizens of Megatropolis, I'm sure you are wondering why you were all instructed to report to your living quarters immediately. Well, in light of recent events concerning this _Revolution_ and specifically this _Megaman_, I have decided to request that everyone adhere to a thirty six hour lockdown. Of course you shouldn't consider yourselves prisoners of any sort," he cleared his throat and grinned, "but there _are _drones patrolling every street corner across the Nation, with orders to 'Shoot to kill' if they deem necessary. I know that some of you are rooting for the rebels, and see this _Megaman_ as some kind of savior, but this is the real world, and in the real world that is called 'treason'.

The feed changed to an image of a Penitentary Commons Area, where the humanoid known as Burnerman, one of Wily's Majors, stood menacingly by a large glass capsule with a steel floor and ceiling.

Burnerman was the personification of danger. He was clad in an all-white nanosuit, standard-issued, red armored boots with exhaust holes around the ankles, and a red, armored vest that held two cylinders with exhaust ports, on his back, like an old movie's jet-pack. He wore royal blue gauntlets with large, piped openings on the top. His helmet was the style of a Red Spartan, with green-lit torches as the mohawk.

He spoke to the camera, "We have filled these cells with those suspected of supporting Preston Light's _revolution_ and the self-proclaimed _Megaman_, either directly, or in spirit alone."

The guards ushered in a flailing woman in rags, threw her into the tube and sealed it.

"Such acts are punishable, by death." He said, igniting a torch from his right hand. He held the flame to the metal floor of the pod. The woman began to yell and jump up and down, then screamed as the capsule roasted her alive.

Miller sat with her hand over her mouth, she looked on in horror. When she turned to gauge Megaman's reaction, he was already out the door.

Running into the Advanced Technology Lab, he grabbed his helmet and threw it on, "Transport, get me a bird ready to go, now!" Pulling on his pants, he commed the Briefing Room, "I need last known locations of Burnerman, and any information on state penitentiaries in that area!"

"On it now, Megaman." A nameless tech responded.

Light and Jennings stormed in as he was zipping up his suit. Light spoke first, "Alex, stop. You have to see that this is a trap!"

Pulling on his boots, "I expect that, but people are being cooked alive, as we speak! I have to get in there now!"

Jennings chimed in, "Megaman, you can't charge in head-first like this, you will be killed and we can't muster a support unit fast enough!"

Light agreeing," He's right, Alex. Burnerman is a Major, we are not equipped to deal with him. You said so yourself 'Stay to our current route'."

Fully geared up now, Megaman responded "I'm leaving now, brief me over comms with what you can get, but I already have my heading." He tapped his helmet, "Coleman Correctional Facility, Florida." He brushed past the two men, "Send help there if you feel the need to."

Jennings gave Light an "I told you so" look and pleaded, "Megaman, stop! I know we can't stop you, but please, give me thirty minutes to make alterations to your suit. Added heat resistance, extra shock absorption, anything I can squeeze in."

Megaman turned, "People are dying Jennings!"

"And so will you with your current state! If you die, they all die, _we _all die. Thirty minutes can save a lot more lives than you think." Jennings said, praying he would listen.

Megaman thought it over. "You have thirty minutes, then I'm gone."


	10. The Jail Bait

Chapter 10

**Sumterville, Florida**

Megaman was put down just outside of the prison's perimeter, inside the razor-wire boundary. He headed directly for the Front Entrance, (_Grey and Orange_) gripping two katanas, he cut through the steel and stepped inside. He fired four large razor discs into the ceiling turrets that turned toward him, then dismembered three approaching armored gearbots.

He made his way through the Visitor's Area, slashing and dropping bat-like shockbots. They were a minor distraction, but right now every second counted. A table exploded to his right, sending him on a trip against the safety glass, then to the floor. _Actual traps_, he thought to himself, climbing to his feet. (_Black and Yellow_) He ejected a slim, metal rod into his left hand, crackling with electricity.

He continued down the hall, tapping the metal floors and frames as he went. Sometimes nothing would happen, other times mines would go off, sending shrapnel or fire out. He didn't have time for this, he began running, rounding the corner, into the Cafeteria, he stopped dead in his tracks. There were seven bears roaming the room, like it were the wild. These weren't actual bears, of course, but rather a mechanical rendition of the deadly beast. He slapped his hand down onto the metal table, where one had climbed on, and electrocuted it until the "animal" literally, caught fire. The other six rushed in on him as he (_Grey and Orange_)transmuted two, four inch daggers, and charged at them as well.

He dove onto the bear leading the charge, burying the blades into it's neck and twisting himself to the floor with the lifeless machine on top of him. He used it to shield himself from the assault of claws from the remaining five. Planting his feet and removing his knives, he pushed the monster off of him onto the others, as he rolled back and hopped on a nearby table. Running across the metal surface, (_Black and Yellow_)he fired electric rods at the beasts to slow their advance. He saw a faint, red glow under the adjacent table, so he quickly jumped across and over it. The front pursuer went to follow and was caught in an upward explosion, sending it smashing to the ceiling. The bear behind it got caught in the exhaust backdraft on the floor, leaving it's front half melted.

The three survivors circled Megaman cautiously now. One lunged and bit down on his right arm, locking it's jaw. In a flash, he cut its throat and shoved the blade up into the wound. (_Blue_) He charged his BSTR as he snatched his right arm, pulling the head from the bear and using it to parry the claws of the other two. One lunged at him, and this time he spun, shoving the barrel of his left arm into it's open mouth, then blew the beast in half.

He pulled the dead animals' head from his right arm and turned to face the lone survivor. It hunkered back, growling, it's eyes glowing red. It opened it's mouth and let loose a heavy stream of flames. Shielding his face, he ran forward and stabbed it through the top of it's skull. As it fell over, he muttered, "Jennings, I owe you a beer." Looking at his, barely phased, suit.

"I'm gonna hold you to that if you live through this." Jennings replied over the comms.

He could hear screams and crying as he came down the corridor leading to the Commons Area. It was a large, open room with two floors of cells lining the walls and a large security booth above the narrow, entrance landing. Megaman slowly walked in to see a pile of burnt and melted carcasses next to the capsule. Two large "Guardbots",that looked like golems, dragged in another helpless civilian.

(_Grey and Orange_) Megaman aimed and fired a countless volley of tempered daggers at the pod, shattering it into a pile of glass. Burnerman snapped his attention to him and smiled, evilly. Without looking, he incinerated the man being ushered in, and said "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show."

Saying nothing, Megaman dispensed two, arched-handled battle axes and began to enter the room. He stopped at the corners of the hall's threshold, eying the guardbots moving into flanking positions.

Burnerman held up a hand and spoke. "I will admit, the landmines were a bit crude and childish, but I'm surprised to see you made it past my animals." The guardbots held position. "I loved those bears." He said, jokingly, "I even named them." He began to chuckle, maniacally, then his face turned serious, "You're not leaving this prison alive, friend." He dropped his hand and the rain of blaster fire ensued.

Megaman, stepping back into the walkway, used hie axes to shield most of the bolts, and waited for the firing to slow down, for recharge. When hundreds of bolts became dozens, he advanced into the room, burying his axes into the chests of two guardbots on either side of the doorway,(_Black and Yellow_) then electrocuted them. He hurled his left axe into a droid on the second floor (_Blue_) and opened fire on the bots on the ground floor.

Burnerman watched on and raised an eyebrow at the show.

A droid jumped the railing and came down on top of Megaman, he kicked it in the chest, driving it backward, and decapitated it with a horizontal swipe. Jumping up, grabbing the railing with his left hand, he pulled himself onto the second floor, dismembering a droid in the process. (_Black and Yellow_) He spun around, grabbing an approaching guardbot by the throat, and pumped hundreds of volts through it, until it's eyes smoked.

The captives were cheering and yelling from their cells. Burner, looking around, mocked their cheering with his own. He began to grow impatient, he didn't intend to lose this many of his units, and rarely underestimated _anything._

Megaman, dropping to one knee, transformed the BSTR into a spinning, ball-bearing dispenser, causing the remaining droids to fumble and crash to the floor. The balls then emitted arc lightning, linking them all into a spasm of death. He picked up the axe he had thrown earlier and walked down the stairs, eying Burnerman the whole way.

"Can't find good help these days." Burner said, seemingly bored.

Megaman walked toward the sadistic android, shifting his suit back to blue. He couldn't risk electrocuting him and accidentally frying his core chip.

Burner raised a hand, motioning for Megaman to wait, "Hold on, just one second," he smiled "I _really_ don't want you to miss this." He began to chuckle, as the cell to his opponents left began to open.

The first thing that became visible in the light were the light purple, armored boots and gloves. They were followed by black nanopants, and a dark blue armored vest, with a glowing, red diamond in the center. The helmet covered his entire head and face, all except his ice blue eyes. The headgear was made of purple-fogged diamond, also with a red gem on the forehead. He was well-known, as Freezeman, another of Wily's Majors.

"Now, I know what you're thinking." Burner began, "'Fire and ice, so cliché'. But when Guts asks me to lay a trap, this is my guy."

Megaman eyed the two, then hurled an axe straight for Burnerman, who hovered up, off the ground, and melted the weapon with a green flame from his left hand.

He turned his attention to Freeze, who was now down on one knee, coating the floor with a thick layer of ice. Megaman lost his footing and crashed to his side. He fired three bolts from prone position, but the pale android dodged them easily and ejected two blades from the bottom of his boots. He was struggling to get to his feet when he was helped up by Burner, swooping in and grabbing his ankles. When he hit the concrete pillar, his vision skipped a little. He rolled to his hands and knees, just in time for Freeze to slide up and kick him, square in the ribcage, sending him on a trip up against a plate glass cell. Using his feet, he pushed himself sliding across the ice, narrowly avoiding the bladed boot to his face. Freeze's leg went through the glass violently, opening an opportunity for Megaman to land three quick bolts to his bare left bicep. Scorching his skin to the metal, he didn't seem phased. He looked over at his foe and casually froze the cell's occupant before removing his cut leg. Freeze then returned fire on him with razor-sharp icicles. Megaman, with no leverage and still on the floor, was cut in several locations, and stabbed in a few others. Trying, desperately, to avoid the shards, he rolled away. When he looked up, Burner hovered overhead, then laid on a thick layer of torch fire. He covered his face and frantically rolled to the nearest wall, pushing off again. He slid, blindly, across the floor on his back, firing relentlessly at the airborne android.

Megaman looked forward, to see Freezeman, skating from the right, to meet his trajectory. (_Grey and Orange_) He produced a dagger, stabbing it into the ice, stopping himself, while he simultaneously fired a group of spiked stars to meet Freeze instead. The sliding android tripped up, trying to avoid the steel in front of his feet, but before Megaman could capitalize, he was jettisoned away to the upper level, and dropped, unceremoniously, on his face.

Content with just being able to stand on solid ground again, he stood up, bleeding from the nose. Burner set down in front of him, "Let's have some one-on-one time, you and I." The red Spartan said, as he got into a boxing stance. Megaman ejected a katana into his left hand, but it was quickly melted down by a disappointed Burnerman. "No cheating, friend." He said, grinning.

Megaman charged him, ducking a right hook, and lifting up his rival, slamming him to the concrete. He landed a hard right to the jaw, before the gauntlet grabbed his throat, and the red helmet came up to meet his face. As he stumbled back, he felt dozens of ice shards rip away at his back. He dropped out of the line of fire, to welcome a red, steel boot to the side of his head. Static taunted his vision, back on his hands and knees, he looked up at Burner, spitting blood, "That's cheating." He said, wryly.

Burner laughed at him, "That, unfortunately, only applies to you." He went for another kick, but Megaman was able to lean back and raise up under the extended leg. Lifting Burner high into the air, he smashed him like a sledgehammer to the floor, cracking it. With his adversary disoriented, he laid in over and over with a hail of punches, disrupting him worse. Again the ice shards, from the ground floor, ate away at more of his skin. If he intended on killing Burnerman, he needed to put a stop to the circling pest, below.

Picking up his foe, with an arm around the neck, he threw himself over the railing, plummeting them both to the ice. Just before impact, Burner activated his jets, melting a large portion of ice, and dropping Megaman to the floor solo. In the blink of an eye, he rolled off the patch, just as Freezeman's skates met the cement, sending him falling, face first. Megaman scooped up his, previously dropped, axe and like and executioner, beheaded the falling android in front of him. Burner looked on, shocked.

Megaman turned his head to look up at him, "No cheating, friend." He said flatly.

Burner, enraged, let out a ferocious roar, as he flew, full-speed, into Megaman's chest. The two smashed the back wall hard, when Burner stood up and began a barrage of punches and kicks to the cornered do-gooder. "You sorry piece of shit!" He screamed, as he unleashed his rage. "You have killed my friends for the last time! No more games, it's time I end this!" He brought down a flaming boot, that only met the tip of a twelve inch blade, going in through his foot and up into his leg. He screamed in agony, as Megaman (_Blue_) fired four bolts into his face. Putting his hands over the burned skin, he backed up and let loose a green flame in the blue androids general direction. He dodged the inferno as his comms activated, "Megaman, get away from the south wall, now!" It was Miller. He pushed off and slid away just as the wall erupted into dust. The commandos opened up automatic fire on Burnerman, who (with blurred vision) returned the favor with a massive spray of fire as he screamed. He suddenly felt a firm hand on his helmet, then a blade opening his throat. The world became sluggish, his fire weakened in intensity. He dropped to his knees and looked down at the crimson river on the ice, then the world went away.

Megaman stood, battered and burned like a walking test dummy. Everyone looked on in awe. The remaining captives exploded with cheers as he looked around at them. He noticed the floating camera bot was still broadcasting. He looked directly into it and winked, then blew it to pieces.

As the people filed out, up in the darkened security booth, sitting with a metal case, Gutsman commed Wily, "Say the word, Sir, and I will take care of this." He caressed the box, lightly.

"Stand down for now, Guts. I have a feeling they will be coming to us soon. We can deal with them on our terms." Wily replied.


	11. Bad Briefings, Again

Chapter 11

**May 2, 2099-Light Tower**

Brian Jennings looked across the Briefing Room table, slightly annoyed. Tracy and Dr. Light were at each others' throats again. Everyone else had left, except Scott, the recreated doppelganger of Tracy's dead brother. He was an athletic built android, with shaggy (yet charming) brown hair, and green eyes. This particular argument, just so happened, to be about him.

"...I understand that this is what he was made for, but he is still my brother, and you are sending him to his death!" Tracy shouted.

Dr. Light rubbed his temples, "Tracy, our scouts are very reliable, and with Scott's abilities, he's very capable of pulling this off."

"I'll be fine Tr..." Scott began.

"Say it and I'll slap you." Tracy interrupted, as he smiled and sat back in his chair. "Wily already took my brother from me once." she continued, "I can't lose him again. And I won't put myself through reprogramming his memories, like some sort of _This is Your Life_ tale, again. It was painful enough the first time." She looked down with tears in her eyes, brushing her long, black hair out of her face.

Scott stood up, putting his arms around her. He looked at Light, as she cried on his shoulder, "Doctor, can we at least postpone the mission? It will give Tracy and Dr. Jennings time to make some upgrades to my gear and everyone can feel better about the idea."

"This isn't right." She said quietly.

"Hey," He said, letting her go. "We have to end this sometime. That's what this Revolution is for, stopping Wily. We all knew this day was coming."

She nodded, "Fine, give me three months. Brian and I will reinforce your nanosuit and upgrade your blasters."

Dr. Light chimed in, "And I'll send out more scouts and spybots to the White House to get a better read on the situation there."

Walking out, they were greeted from down the hall, with a slightly slurred "Hey, there ya are!"

Jennings mumbled, "Ah, Christ."

He was drunk again, Alex Light swayed down the hall in his camouflage pants and black Boston Bruins t-shirt.

"Alex, please stop making my fusion droids transmute beer for you." Light said, defeated.

Alex put his hand on his father's shoulder, "C'mon dad, it's free." He leaned in closer and whispered, "And it's Scotch."

Jennings, fed up, responded, "Well, on that note, I think I'll be heading to my room." Scott and his sister followed suit.

Alex clapped Jennings on the back as he passed him, "Hey man, when are we gonna trashed and break into the Aquatic Center again?" He asked.

Brian, still walking, replied, "We were seventeen, I was sober, and you almost drowned."

"Still fun." Alex muttered, under his breath.

Taking his son into the empty Briefing Room, Light spoke, quietly to him. "Son, I know that things are hard on you right now..."

"_Hard on me_?" He responded, "You wouldn't be referring to the fact that I'm not a genius, I cant fight, and I have no weapons training, making me completely useless in today's world, would you? Because that's no big deal." He said sarcastically.

"Alex, listen to me, things will change, I promise. You have to stop this path of self-destruct." Light pleaded.

"That's actually what I came to talk to you about." He was serious now, "For a few years now, I've noticed that the robots don't seem to take notice to me out there." He sipped his Scotch, "So I've broken a few curfews, walked onto the perimeters of Wily-owned buildings, things like that. They just kept moving, no warning, no shock to the back, nothing." He glared at his father now, "So earlier today, I picked up a pipe, in broad daylight, and smashed in the head of patrol droid. Do you know what his partners did? They kept moving." Light dropped his head to his palm. "Why is that, Dad?

Light looked up at him, "It's not what you think, Alex."

"So then you're honestly telling me, that you didn't, somehow, have a hand in Uncle Curt getting to where he is now? And now you feel guilty, so you start this _Secret_ _Revolution?" _He looked into his father's face, who stood silently. "Yeah. That's what I figured." He finished the last sip of Scotch and tossed the glass to the floor, shattering it, as he walked out.

Dr. Light stood alone, still speechless for a moment, and quietly said to the empty room, "It's not what you think."

**November 12, 2101-Light Tower**

"I understand 'Occupational Hazard'," Jennings said, looking at the ragged, beaten nanosuit, "but you are killing me, man."

Megaman smiled, as he removed his helmet, "At least you wont have to do any 'brain surgery'." He said holding up two, bloody, core chips.

"A gentleman, as always, kind sir." Jennings said, sarcastically.

Miller walked in, smiling, for once. "Hell of a job out there, Blue. The whole Nation just watched you take down two Majors, and spit in Wily's face. You really are the _Megaman._"

He smiled back, "Ya know, around here, you can just call me 'Alex', everyone else does."

Her smile faded a bit, "I'd...rather not."

Light came over the private speaker, "Lana, Alex, I need you in the Briefing Room."

"No rest for the wicked." Jennings said, gathering materials for a new nanosuit.

A three-dimensional holo of The White House floated in the center of the room, as they entered.

"We've crippled Wily's hold, we need to strike as soon as possible." Light said, before the door even shut behind them. "We know that he has the Underground Bunker, that he will retreat to if an alarm is triggered." He pointed to the massive area on the holo. "Miller, I need your forces to focus an assault, from a safe distance, on the West Wing. Wily's General, Gutsman, operates from the Diplomatic Reception Room, here, in the center of the compound." He pointed to the East Wing, "Alex, you and a small infiltration unit will enter the East Wing, from the north side. When you reach Wily, _do not kill him._" He stressed each word. "We need him to tell us where the Atlas Card is, and shut down his machines."

"You know, he won't be willing to just do that for us." Miller added.

Dr. Light looked down for a second, "These are desperate times, and I'm not proud to say that we have ways to make him do this." He said, grimly. "Alex, wait for Miller's signal, before moving in. They need to draw Gutsman's attention to the West Wing. He's a close-quarters expert, so it will be easier to evade and distract him, from a reasonable distance."

The holo of the building flickered, and changed to Wily's upper body, along with the other holos in the room. "Preston," Wily began, disgusted, "you nauseate me to no end."

They all looked on, as he eyed them back and forth. "We have nothing to say to each other, Curtis." Light said, through his teeth.

"All the years that I've stood in power, I held my promise to you, I let you, your residents, your staff, and your friends, roam freely as they pleased. I _never, once, _set foot in your yard. Hell, even when your dipshit son went on his drunken tantrums, I let him be." Wily cut his eyes at Light, "But what does Preston Light do? You send an android to assassinate me!"

Light shouted back now, "I told you back in Nova Scotia, that this kind of power and control turns men into monsters! And look at yourself, at what you've done!"

Wily smiled, "And what about you, Preston? You are so actively against artificial intelligence, yet you make one of your own, to kill me. Do you really think that you may be the exception to your own argument? Shit, even the death of your own son didn't stop you. You even made _him_ the very thing you hate." He said looking to Megaman, "And for what? To be another 'pawn' in your _Revolution?_"

Megaman stood, confused, "What is he talking about?" He asked the other two, suspiciously.

Wily smiled, slowly, "He doesn't know." He looked to Light, "Now who's the monster?"

"What the fuck is he talking about!?" Megaman shouted.

Miller stepped forward, "Calm down, Blue."

He could see her right hand, clad in the silver, armored glove, due to her injury, slowly edging near her holster. "Is that why everyone looks at me strange? Am I some replacement for your dead son!?"

Wily laughed, "Let me catch the boy up to speed."

Dr. Light shouted, "Curtis, stop this!"

His image changed to various security holos of a drunken Alex Light, smashing windows, throwing bottles at patrol drones, and vomiting in the street. Light made a move for the power source, and as quick as Megaman pulled Miller's pistol from her back and put it to his head, she had the other to his temple.

"You let it play." Megaman said, in a cold tone.

Miller interjected, "Alex, please don't force my hand on this."

He responded, "My name is not _Alex._ You said you'd rather not call me that, and I see why."

"Please." She pleaded. "He was a good man, and so are you. Wily's trying to get in our heads."

The footage changed, to a sober Alex Light, in a baseball stadium, alone. He tossed up baseballs and knocked them into the stands, for a few moments. Two security droids approach him and shock him, until he is unconscious. He is dragged away, when the footage changes to Wily's face. "Preston, we had our differences before, and you chose the path you were allowed. I've been extremely lenient with you because of our relationship in the past, but in fairness, I _did_ warn you what would happen should you interfere with me..." Megaman dropped the pistol, as the torture scene played on. He was frozen in horror. Miller lowered her weapon as well, covering her face from the image.

Megaman shut down the power source and stood in silence. "You're right." He said, quietly. "He _is_ a monster." And like nothing had happened, he pulled Light to his feet. "I'm going in tomorrow."

"Alex, about what..." Light began.

"We'll talk about that, later. Right now, we stop Wily." He said.

Miller stopped him on his way out, and put her arms around him, "There was more to Alex than the stuff in those holos." She whispered. "He was my only friend here, and I missed him everyday he was gone. I hated that you were made in his image, until I realized, you don't just look like him, I believe he lives on in you."

"I thought I was just a _'_computer chip, encased in metal and wires?" He whispered, as he pat her on the back.

She wouldn't admit to it, but for the second time, in one day, she smiled.


	12. Heavy is the Head

Chapter 12

Two hundred Stealth Commandos move, quietly, along the grass line, outside of the West Wing. They await one word, as they get into position. Miller, perched a hundred and fifty yards away, silently picks off the, eagle-like, patrol birds, one by one. She presses her earpiece, "Go."

An orchestra of armor penetrating rounds, from the G700 shoulder cannons, smash the reinforced walls. And like kicking an anthill, the machines spill out, guns blazing.

Wily's buried mines were more sophisticated than his late Major Burnerman's. They were designed to disregard any man or machine that bear a Wily Inc. beacon. However, rounds from a high-grade sniper rifle, were a different story. Captain Miller's Magnetic Pulse Scope made easy prey of dozens of droids that gathered too close to the mines.

Gutsman stood, in his workspace, sharpening his saw blades, and making minor adjustments to his "instruments". Wily had programmed all of his officers to be violence-hungry, and slightly, psychotic. But Guts had grasped the art of patience and self-control, on his own. That was less than he could say for his fellow Artificial Lifeforms. They were content on simply being killers, succumbing to the base potential of their processors.

Laziness and lack of creativity annoyed him. Always resorting to the lowest common denominator, and underestimating their foe, is what led some of them to their deaths. If you react like a simple machine, they will kill you like a simple machine.

As if reading his mind, alarms blared. He looked to his console, to see some of his "simple machines", blindly, walking into their own landmine field, and being blown to Hell. He looked to the feed location, _West Wing_. At the sounds of the alarms, King Wily should be making his way to the bunker. He actually chuckled at the rebels, and mumbled to himself, "Really?"

He removed his suit and tie, donning only a white tank top and black slacks. He opened the box on the table, revealing a pair of red, armored gauntlets, and matching boots. There was also a yellow, form-fitting helmet, similar to Megaman's, with a shiny, metal, jaw, mouth, and nose cover. He locked the gear in place and headed out the door. _Tonight just got interesting_. He thought.

Megaman sat at the border of the East Wing, growing impatient as time passed. The thoughts of what those two did to him...to Alex...to whoever he or it was...he started to get confused. It felt like it was him in the video, but it couldn't have been. It was like deja vu, but through someone else's mind, but you lived it. His line of reality began to blur, he needed to get a grip on things. "Something's not right." He said. "We're losing the upper-hand, the longer we wait."

"Sir, we have to await Captain Miller's signal in order for this to work." One of the operatives reminded him.

He commed her, "Miller, any sign of the General?"

"None yet, hold position, Megaman. We are about to move up." She responded.

He looked to his men, "Screw it, cover me, I'm not waiting for this."

"Sir, I really don't..."

It was too late, he was already full-speed, across the grass, avoiding mines, like a feline in the jungle. He shot down five eagle drones, before they got a glimpse of him, and slid to the north wall. He was joined, a moment later, by his Demolitions Tech, who began to plant the charges on the metal-plated siding.

"Where are the others?" Megaman asked.

"Miller ordered us to stay at the grass line and provide sniper cover, Sir." The tech replied.

"What about you?" He asked.

"I have the bombs, Sir." The tech said, grinning.

Megaman sighed, "Alright, as soon as this thing blows, you haul ass back to the grass line, heading west, at an angle. I don't need you getting caught in crossfire tonight."

"Understood, Sir."

They waited for Miller's countdown to blow the wall, simultaneously, with her cannon rounds. When she reached 'one', florescent lighting filled the area, as the wall exploded, along with countless security droids.

The tech ran as instructed, as Megaman (_Grey and Orange_) began slicing away at the ranks. One of them grabbed him by the right hand, and throat. (_Grey and Red_) His left arm became a nozzle, igniting and melting the droids face and chest, in seconds. (_White and Blue_) He ducked immediately, seeing the Gearbots rolling up, from the rear, and made a thick sheet of ice, making a bowling alley out of his attackers. (_Grey and Red_) He melted the ice, while the bots were down and reeling, (_Black and Yellow_) he plunged his left arm in the water, and let loose a flow of electricity. Smoke filled the air, he activated his comms, "You guys go join up with Miller, I can take it from here." He told his team, as he entered the compound. (_Blue_)

Bat drones entered the hallway, spitting pulse bolts upon him. He absorbed a few shots, before decorating the air with hot, golden confetti. The emergency stairwell was through the door to his left, (_Grey and Red_) he melted down the locking mechanism and kicked open the door...only to be kicked right back, across the corridor, into the Calligraphy Office. He smashed into, what seemed like everything, before stopping on the floor.

Gutsman walked in, smiling under his mask, "I'm slightly offended at the audacity of this whole plan. Your friends can have the West Wing, for all I care. But I'm afraid your journey ends here."

Megaman pointed his burner nozzle at his unarmored tank top, and unleashed a green flame. But just before it met it's target, heavy armor extended, from his enemy's right glove, forming quickly on his chest, to meet the fire. (_Grey and Orange_) He fired a hail of razor discs, at various body parts, and like before, the armor shot from gloves and boots, deflecting the discs, before retracting back to their origin.

Guts closed in on him before he could rethink his strategy, and picked him up over his head, launching him across the room into a shelved wall. An array of small machinery and metal boxes fell on him, as he landed. (_Blue_) He charged his BSTR, and rushed the hulking android. He shoulder tackled him around the waist, only Guts didn't budge. He put the cannon to his back and fired. The armor was right there to intercept, literally, blowing up in his face. The right side burned down to the steel skull, on his forehead and cheek. His vision was jumpy, and cutting in and out.

He felt Gutsman's, vice-like grip, pulling him to his knees, followed by knees driving into his midsection and face. He was flung hard, into the east wall, where the punches didn't let up. He put his arms up, and tried to withstand as much as possible, while regaining a level-head. He ducked a jab, that was aimed for his nose, and lifted the brawler off of his feet, falling to the ground. He put him on his back, quickly, (_White and Blue_) and flooded his face with nitrogen.

Guts' visor came down, covering his face and neck. He kicked the pest off, and smashed the ice mold over his helmet. The visor came up, allowing him to see again. What he saw first was a bloodied, (_Grey and Orange_) Megaman, delivering a rain of spiked stars, directly toward him. Flipping his visor back down, his entire body clad itself in heavy armor. He, blindly, rushed the android, only to meet a wall. Armor retracting, he spun around, with a, blind-aimed, lariat, catching Megaman across the chest.

Megaman's momentum of rushing in, caused him to flip, upside-down, crashing into the wall behind Guts. He was disoriented, by this point. He wasn't sure if the rebels were coming to his aid, or if the shaking, booming, feeling was just his system crashing. He adjusted his vision, to see Guts, picking up a large, steel, crate. He, quickly rolled to avoid it, but it hit him straight away, putting him through the wall, into the adjacent room.

"I hate being rushed," Guts said, stepping through the hole, "but your friends seem to be more persistent than I gave them credit for."

Megaman's suit, now almost completely ripped off on the top, exposed his chest, a vital core. It was all he could do to raise his head, the monster of an android neared him, with a crude, jagged, pipe.

His sensors went in to a frenzy, as a massive explosion brought down the entire balcony, from the upper level. Guts, frantically, moving the avoid the debris, was buried under countless tons of concrete and steel.

At least Megaman had comfort in that, as his systems shut down and the world went dark.

_Internal Repairs Complete..._

_System Reboot..._

_Loading Interface..._

When his eyes opened, the room was silent. The alarms had ceased, and the colossal pile of balcony, still set in front of him. He stood up. His nanosuit (what was left of it) cycled through various color schemes.

_-All Systems Ready-_

He made a dash for the stairwell, jumping down flights at a time. (_Black and Yellow_) He reached the turbo lift, and jolted the access pad. The doors pulled open, easily, as he dropped himself down the shaft. (_Grey and Orange_) He used a set of daggers, to slow his descent, until he reached the bottom.

He made his way through the endless, dim corridors, before he met the massive, single, steel door. (_White and Red_) It took a few minutes to super-heat a hole large enough to fit through, but once inside, the bunker was pitch black. _A decoy?_ He thought. His night-vision only showed and endless empty room.

He heard a loud 'h_iss'_ in front of him. He scanned the floors and open areas, but couldn't make out where the sounds were coming from. From the darkness, above him, a barbed cable shot down, almost impaling him. As he reeled, he saw the giant ship, lowering, with Wily encased in the center controls. The Leviathan.

The needles rained down in an instant, while tentacles slapped and swiped at him. (_Grey and Orange_) He parried and slashed at the chaos, the best he could, with his katana. (_Black and Yellow_) He grabbed hold of one of the cables, and let the electricity flow, to no effect. The needles cut away at his skin, from all sides, as he became entangled. (_White and Red_) He let the burner torch spray, in all directions, searing tentacles in two.

When the needles finally stopped, they were replaced by mounted turret fire. Megaman retreated across the open room, taking cover behind a metal barrier. (_Grey and Orange_) He produced a large, two foot, bladed disc, and hurled it at the front sentry. Severing multiple cables along the way, it sliced the gun from the machine. (_Blue_) Megaman jumped out, and charged, unleashing rapid fire on the second turret, which exploded, spraying debris everywhere.

"This is my Country!" Wily shouted, over the speaker, "Did you think you could just take it from me!?"

Megaman, picking up his sword, hacked at the crackling tentacles. One wrapped around his waist, snatching him upward. He used this opportunity to grab on to the bottom of The Leviathan, and plunge his blade into the exposed exhaust line. The cable pulled him loose, raising him high above the ship, intending to smash him to the floor. He saw Wily through the glass view-port on the top. The sight filled him with an inferno of rage. (_Grey and Orange_) He dealt himself a curved axe, cutting the cable in two, and free-falling to the top of The Leviathan. He landed hard. Shaking off the pain, Megaman ran, with determination, straight to the control pit, drawing back his axe.

Wily, panicked, began opening different commands on his console. A cable intercepted the blow, wrapping his right wrist and forearm. He dove forward, and grabbed the handle of the cockpit door with his free hand, pulling against the vine with the other. The tentacle yanked back, ripping his right arm away, at the elbow.

Screaming in excruciation, (_White and Red_) he cauterized the tubes spraying fluid, and melted the cockpit lock. Wily pulled a pistol, from under the console, but he wasn't fast enough, Megaman had already kicked the door in on him. Alarm bells rang out, as the ship spun wildly. Megaman, both destroying consoles and abusing Wily, sent it plummeting to the floor. The impact was Earth-shaking, both men were thrown across the room, rolling and flipping across the steel floor.

Megaman pulled himself to his feet. His helmet was dislodged and crushed in the collision. He picked up Wily's discarded handgun, and made his way over to him.

Wily, bleeding and dazed, was on his knees, catching his breath, when Megaman stepped into view, putting the pistol between his eyes. "Go ahead," Wily spit, "end it." Megaman, full of hatred, went to squeeze the trigger. The lights came on and dozens of commandos rushed in, followed by Lana Miller.

As her men, forcefully, bound Wily's hands behind his back, she approached Megaman, who still had the gun trained on Wily's head. "Good work, Blue, we have it from here." She said looking into his eyes.

Knowing what she really meant was, "Lower the gun, before people start to think that you've lost it." He dropped the weapon to the floor, and collapsed.

**Light Tower**

Megaman was rushed into the Repair Lab, where a team of engineers rushed in to get to work.

Light was on the roof, to greet the landing aircraft, with Wily in-tow. "It seems the mighty can fall, old friend." He said.

Wily grinned, "I find it amusing, how you, ridiculously, think you've won." He began laughing as he was dragged inside.

Wily was tossed into an eight-by-eight, concrete cell, where he sat on his cot, giggling, with his head in his hands. His house of cards may have fallen, but that didn't mean he couldn't pick them up, and start again.


	13. After the StormBefore the Storm

Epilogue

Hovering hundreds of yards away, the lens enhanced on Light Tower. Wily was being dragged inside, from the roof, laughing.

The airship was monolithic, but silent. She called it _The Phantom._ Tracy, still in her green, cargo pants, and white tank top, stood at the view port, staring out at the ocean. "So, you are absolutely sure that no one saw you?" She asked, skeptically.

Scott stepped away from the lens, still in his grey nanosuit and matching cargo pants, "I told you, everyone was in the West Wing." he walked over to her, picking up his red helmet, with white curving points, lining the border. "Besides, the idiot was caught by Gutsman, everything we've worked for was about to get snuffed out."

"You're right, but we are screwed if they found out that you are still alive. So I worry." She turned around, and began petting the German Shepherd laying on the chair. "If we are gonna get our hands on the Atlas Card, we need to move in, within a few hours, after things settle down."

He nodded, "That will give you some time to make some minor repairs to my suit. I went a little crazy with the explosives, back there."

She tugged on the long, yellow, cloth that wrapped his neck, and hung to his waist, "How does this thing manage to survive?" She asked, jokingly.

He shrugged, "Luck, I guess?"

"Okay, I'll grab some tools, just leave your gear in the table, in the back." She said, walking away.

"Thanks, Tron." He responded/

"Please, for the love of God, stop calling me that. We are adults now." She replied.

He laughed, "Very well, 'Head of Technology Advancement and Chief Engineer Bonne."

"See? Rolls off the tongue."

He smiled, "Just fix my gear, we got a King to steal."

She sat down, petting her dog, _I guess I am overdue for a visit_, she thought.


End file.
